Report: Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones ‘neck and neck’ in Colts QB battle

Anthony Richardson is currently neck and neck with Daniel Jones for the Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback position. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the battle won’t be over anytime soon as head coach Shane Steichen wants to see it play out through the preseason.

A former No 4 overall pick out of Florida, Richardson has shown tremendous potential, but has struggled mightily in spots. He was even benched last season due to poor play.

Now, the former Giants first round pick in Jones is here to win a job. But Richardson is going to give it his all to showcase his improvements going into Year 3.

“Colts head coach Shane Steichen told me that the battle between Jones and Richardson is neck and neck,” Fowler said on Get Up. “He’s not going to call it for a while. He’s got a joint practice coming up, he’s got two preseason games, so he’s going to let this play out. But you saw Richardson earlier. He is a player who has been humbled. He told me, ‘Look, I had to pick up the slack last year. I didn’t, and that’s essentially why I got benched.’ 

“So he tweaked some things this offseason, tweaked some mechanics with his base so he can stop sailing throws. The Colts know that the immense potential ability is there. They need to see more from a leadership standpoint, but they have seen it early on. Shane Steichen told me that, yes, he absolutely can be that, he just has to keep doing it every day.”

In 11 games last year, Richardson went 6-5 as a starter but threw for just 1,814 yards, eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 47.7% completion percentage. He also ran for 499 yards and six scores.

“Commitment, work ethic, that was the issue last year,” Fowler said. “He admitted to that, and I was told that (the Colts) benching him, it woke him up. His offseason, he locked in, and he had the mentality of, ‘I don’t care if I’m competing against Joe Montana or Tom Brady, I’m going to go win that job.’ 

“The Colts have seen that thus far. He’s also been more accurate. He had issues throwing short to intermediate routes, he was better yesterday. (Richardson’s) been better all camp at that but they have an emergency plan with Daniel Jones that has applied the pressure and created some urgency at Colts camp, which Richardson is responding to in a big a big way.”